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Arts & Culture

Women, War & Peace: Peace Unveiled

Afghan women’s rights leader Hasina Safi at Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) meeting in Kabul on May 19, 2010.
Courtesy of Lucy Martens
Afghan women’s rights leader Hasina Safi at Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) meeting in Kabul on May 19, 2010.

Airs Monday, October 1, 2012 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV

WOMEN, WAR & PEACE is a bold five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain. The vast majority of today’s conflicts are not fought by nation states and their armies, but rather by informal entities: gangs and warlords using small arms and improvised weapons. The episodes are "I Came to Testify," "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," "Peace Unveiled," "The War We Are Living" and "War Redefined."

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WOMEN, WAR & PEACE is on Facebook. For breaking news on subjects related to women in conflict zones around the world, follow @WomenWarPeace on Twitter.

For in-depth interviews with people who have responded creatively to the plight of women living in conflict zones, subscribe to our podcast.

Learn More About Afghanistan

Links to more information about women's rights in the country

The series reveals how the post-Cold War proliferation of small arms has changed the landscape of war, with women becoming primary targets and suffering unprecedented casualties. Yet they are simultaneously emerging as necessary partners in brokering lasting peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict.

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With depth and complexity, WOMEN, WAR & PEACE spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security, and reframing our understanding of modern warfare.

Featuring narrators Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard, WOMEN, WAR & PEACE is the most comprehensive global media initiative ever mounted on the roles of women in war and peace.

"Peace Unveiled" - When the U.S. troop surge was announced in late 2009, women in Afghanistan knew that the ground was being laid for peace talks with the Taliban. “Peace Unveiled” follows three women who immediately began to organize to make sure that women have a seat at the negotiating table.

One is a savvy parliamentarian who participated in writing the Afghan constitution that guarantees equality for women; another, a former midwife who is one of the last women’s rights advocates in Kandahar; and the third, a young activist who lives in a traditional family in Kabul.

Convinced that the Taliban will make demands that jeopardize women’s hard-earned gains, they maneuver against formidable odds to have their voices heard in a peace jirga and high peace council. Tilda Swinton narrates.

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"Pray The Devil Back To Hell" will be broadcast at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. No other episodes are currently scheduled for rebroadcast.

This program originally aired in 2011. The full series is now available online.

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Watch Peace Unveiled on PBS. See more from Women War and Peace.

When the U.S. troop surge was announced in late 2009, women in Afghanistan knew that the ground was being laid for peace talks with the Taliban. "Peace Unveiled" follows three women who immediately began to organize to make sure that women’s rights don’t get traded away in the deal.
Women, War, and Peace Redefines the Way That We Look at Conflict and Security